John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
This is one of the toughest CitySalt blog post themes for me to write about. How on earth does an imperfect human spread God’s light and salt-flavoring to the world around us? For me at least, this is an intimidating idea. Certainly we’ve all seen people try to shine the light, and then fail miserably (think public figures proclaiming Christ and then getting caught in a scandal, or ourselves, as we wrestle with shame from our own mistakes and hurt those around us). So what is the answer? I think this song that I grew up singing in church, written and recorded by an American Catholic priest in the 1960s, says it all: unity, love, and compassion. And we can’t have or give those out of our own strength and abilities, at least not sustainably. I believe that if we live filled with God’s light and love, humble ourselves so we can walk in unity with people different from us, and confess and repent when we do make mistakes; we can fulfill this beautiful vision and see His healing power and light in our land. Amen (so be it)!
They’ll Know We Are Christians by Fr. Peter Sholtes
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love
We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we’ll guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah, they’ll know we are Christians by our love
All praise to the Father from whom all things come
And all praise to Christ Jesus His only Son
And all praise to the Spirit who makes us one
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah, they’ll know we are Christians by our love
Listen to the original version sung by the songwriter’s parish on Youtube:
About the Author
Jessie is an educator, currently in the role of academic advisor at a charter school after teaching there and overseas. She is also a novice writer, with several books in various stages and a (long-neglected) blog about the journeys of women. She is very excited to join the CitySalt blog team. She has been blessed by a few communities of Christian writers that have encouraged her dream. She lives with her trusty sidekick cat, Arwen in the foothills of South Eugene, where she can go hiking within minutes of the sun coming out from behind the clouds.